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Map exhibit spans 150 years

Photo courtesy Grand Canyon Association

Early cartographers work at mapping Grand Canyon.

Photo courtesy Grand Canyon Association Early cartographers work at mapping Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon's majesty has been captured by artists and photographers, but a new show opening at Kolb Studio tonight reveals the Canyon's beauty in the abstract, with about 50 maps spanning about 150 years.

"Mapping Grand Canyon" opens with a reception this evening from 7-9 p.m. at the studio on the Rim. It will also feature book signing by authors Duwain Whitis and Wayne Ranney. Whitis co-wrote "Guide to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon." Ranney is co-author, with Ron Blakey, of "Ancient Landscapes of the Colorado Plateau" and author of "Carving Grand Canyon."

The reception is free and open to the public, as is the exhibit, which runs through Feb. 14.

According to Pam Frazier, who organized the exhibit for Grand Canyon Association, the idea started with George Billingsley, a geologist whose work put him in contact with some of the most visually stunning maps of the Canyon.

"Visually they are the most artistic," Frazier said. "We decided to take a broader look at mapping the Canyon."

Along with maps in the geologic category, Frazier said they also included three other categories - historical, "working" and recreational.

The historical segment dates from the 1857 Joseph Christmas Ives expedition to the 1923 U.S. Geological Survey trip led by Claude Birdseye.

It also includes a replica of the map Maj. John Wesley Powell used on his 1869 expedition in the early days of mapping the west.

"It was the best map available at the time," Fraizer said. "It shows geographical detail until it gets into the Grand Canyon. Then it's totally blank. They were setting out to fill in the blanks."

The working maps include those that are used by the Park Service every day for fire, wildlife, soundscapes, archaeology and other resource management functions.

Frazier describes the recreational maps as "fun and whimsical. They didn't fit into any other category but they were fun to look at."

These include images from space and the Grand Canyon Adventure board game, which is played on a map of the Canyon.

The exhibit also includes interpretive panels and historical and contemporary tools used by cartographers, including equipment used by Powell in 1869 on loan from his great-grandson Stephen VanDiver Jones.

While Kolb Studio has been associated with art exhibits, Frazier said GCA has made it a goal to mix those with exhibits that are more interpretive.

The exhibit is sponsored by Grand Canyon Association and the National Park Service.

Frazier said support was also provided by Richard Quartaroli, special collections librarian at Northern Arizona University's Cline Library, George Billingsley and Sue Priest of the U.S. Geological Survey and Erik Palmer and Chris Margolis of GCA.


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